Page 12 - Delaware Lawyer - Issue 1 - 2024

FEATURE
Judges
Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick
Brave
Reflections on
When a decision conveys obvious truths in pursuit of unquestionably virtuous
ends, as did Brown v. Board of Education,1 it is tempting to think that the Gebhart and Brown decision always existed as part of the fabric of our law. But at 70 years old, Brown I is relatively young — at least from the perspective of a 231-year- old institution like the Court of Chancery. And at the time that Brown was
decided, many Americans did not agree with its outcome.
10 DELAWARE LAWYER ISSUE 1 2024
In fact, of the collection of cases on appeal before the United States Supreme Court in Brown I, the Delaware Supreme Court decision resolving Gebhart v. Belton2 was the only one affirmed. That is, Delaware was the only state to find racial seg- regation in public schools unconsti- tutional.
This struck me as I recently re-read
Chancellor Collins J. Seitz’s 1952 3
decision in Gebhart. The case con- solidated two separate actions (Bel- ton and Bulah) challenging the con- stitutionality of racially segregated schools. The first, Belton, was brought by eight students who were refused admission to Claymont High School.